World Building
Jul. 28th, 2010 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravensweptOkay, I'll get to that, but first: the fucking hell?! Who the hell keeps green lighting this crap?! What's next, Huckleberry Hound? Snaggle Puss? Oh, wait, we need a summer action, let's do Wacky Races! I just... after the Scooby, and then the Chipmunks... Smurfs coming... GAAAH! My childhood is not yours for the taking!
***
Whew, okay... I'm good.
Just...grrr.
World building. Right.
A while back on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
a_soc_k, there was discussion on what one would do to make their fantasy world unique... or was it, how to make their dragons unique? Something, anyway, one suggestion I made was making dragons, instead of solitary or special, was multiplying them. Make them very common, to the point that you worry more about the big ones than you do about them being there.
Well, not just that. Dragons, in this world, would become the equivalent of horses, though horses would not be entirely replaced. They'd be about the same relative size, hold one to maybe two people, with fire breathing based a bit on Flight of Dragons, where they'd need to chew limestone in order to achieve flame.
The main reason I came to this was because I had an inkling of an idea of a farmboy and his dragon, and I wanted it to not suck *coughEragoncough*. So, if dragons are an everyday animal, they aren't special. Fudging on the terms of "farmboy", his family owns a dragon stable, where they breed, raise and train dragons. He actually has a family, not some orphan peddled off to an impoverished uncle somewhere; in fact, while not rich-rich, they aren't exactly hurting economic wise. Also, if he grows up around the dragons, it makes sense that he knows how to ride, could figure out how to fight on one, and has a good handle on dragon husbandry.
The dragons themselves are moderately intelligent. A little higher than say, a very smart dog; maybe a rung above a dolphin. They can be taught basic commands, can follow verbal ones as well, with their intelligence growing over age. Some can even learn some speech, though it wouldn't get to conversation level. At best, I figure they could say names, words, and identify things, but aren't going to be using pronouns and such. They can be long lived, the more purebred ones, so the time they have to learn can vary.
Feral dragons are the ones of legends, the ones that breath fire indiscriminately and grow to huge sizes. These are also the kind that are more solitary, needing more room for themselves, and will defend their territory from others. You could, in theory, catch and tame one, but why is the question you'd have to ask yourself.
The world itself has accommodated itself to their usage, with stables for dragons at most villages and towns. Messages and such can travel quicker, people can live and build further away from civilization, being able to travel further. Militarizes make use of them as scouts and are beginning to form air forces.
I haven't decided whether or not I want magic in this world or not. If so, it most likely won't be the "flashy" magic, where spells light up and things are a big spectacle, more subdued and natural. They can have a big effect, but aren't going to be huge productions.
There's a high fantasy story I'm letting simmer on the side, In the Wake of Kings, that I'm debating about whether or not I want this to merge together. I don't think it'd work well, because this seems more like a YA book, possible a series, where the plot is fast paced and there's a small core set of main characters. Kings is geared to be a huge undertaking, much more mature themes over all, with a lot of layers in terms of plot, characterization, and narrative. And with all that, I don't know if I want to combine that with this, seemingly, little dragon story. I see ways it could, and they do have some areas where they could overlap, but it still doesn't feel quite right. But at the same time, I don't know if I want another story to sit in the wings. I have enough of those.
Pretty basic, what I have so far, but it's an inkling. It promises good things, and I like how it goes against a lot of what is, quote unquote, "established" for YA heroes (ie, orphan, uber-special, called to destiny) so it'd set itself apart, I hope. When I came up with this, How to Train Your Dragon hadn't come out yet, so I'm thinking I'll need to double check to make sure they aren't too similar; I don't suspect that to be the case, but it's good to know these things ahead of time.
***
Also, I've come to the conclusion that I need to see Up.
***
Whew, okay... I'm good.
Just...grrr.
World building. Right.
A while back on
a_soc_k, there was discussion on what one would do to make their fantasy world unique... or was it, how to make their dragons unique? Something, anyway, one suggestion I made was making dragons, instead of solitary or special, was multiplying them. Make them very common, to the point that you worry more about the big ones than you do about them being there.Well, not just that. Dragons, in this world, would become the equivalent of horses, though horses would not be entirely replaced. They'd be about the same relative size, hold one to maybe two people, with fire breathing based a bit on Flight of Dragons, where they'd need to chew limestone in order to achieve flame.
The main reason I came to this was because I had an inkling of an idea of a farmboy and his dragon, and I wanted it to not suck *coughEragoncough*. So, if dragons are an everyday animal, they aren't special. Fudging on the terms of "farmboy", his family owns a dragon stable, where they breed, raise and train dragons. He actually has a family, not some orphan peddled off to an impoverished uncle somewhere; in fact, while not rich-rich, they aren't exactly hurting economic wise. Also, if he grows up around the dragons, it makes sense that he knows how to ride, could figure out how to fight on one, and has a good handle on dragon husbandry.
The dragons themselves are moderately intelligent. A little higher than say, a very smart dog; maybe a rung above a dolphin. They can be taught basic commands, can follow verbal ones as well, with their intelligence growing over age. Some can even learn some speech, though it wouldn't get to conversation level. At best, I figure they could say names, words, and identify things, but aren't going to be using pronouns and such. They can be long lived, the more purebred ones, so the time they have to learn can vary.
Feral dragons are the ones of legends, the ones that breath fire indiscriminately and grow to huge sizes. These are also the kind that are more solitary, needing more room for themselves, and will defend their territory from others. You could, in theory, catch and tame one, but why is the question you'd have to ask yourself.
The world itself has accommodated itself to their usage, with stables for dragons at most villages and towns. Messages and such can travel quicker, people can live and build further away from civilization, being able to travel further. Militarizes make use of them as scouts and are beginning to form air forces.
I haven't decided whether or not I want magic in this world or not. If so, it most likely won't be the "flashy" magic, where spells light up and things are a big spectacle, more subdued and natural. They can have a big effect, but aren't going to be huge productions.
There's a high fantasy story I'm letting simmer on the side, In the Wake of Kings, that I'm debating about whether or not I want this to merge together. I don't think it'd work well, because this seems more like a YA book, possible a series, where the plot is fast paced and there's a small core set of main characters. Kings is geared to be a huge undertaking, much more mature themes over all, with a lot of layers in terms of plot, characterization, and narrative. And with all that, I don't know if I want to combine that with this, seemingly, little dragon story. I see ways it could, and they do have some areas where they could overlap, but it still doesn't feel quite right. But at the same time, I don't know if I want another story to sit in the wings. I have enough of those.
Pretty basic, what I have so far, but it's an inkling. It promises good things, and I like how it goes against a lot of what is, quote unquote, "established" for YA heroes (ie, orphan, uber-special, called to destiny) so it'd set itself apart, I hope. When I came up with this, How to Train Your Dragon hadn't come out yet, so I'm thinking I'll need to double check to make sure they aren't too similar; I don't suspect that to be the case, but it's good to know these things ahead of time.
***
Also, I've come to the conclusion that I need to see Up.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2010-07-31 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-07-31 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-07-31 01:02 pm (UTC)Hilarious things I've found with TFoD, especially for a book that claims to be "scientific":
-For the sake of completeness, calcium carbonate produces carbon dioxide when reacted with acid, with a Mr of 40 as opposed to air's average of 23. Instead of producing lift, it would actually drag the creature down, in addition to being quite toxic.
-Even if hydrogen were to be produced, the volume necessary for the gas cells as opposed to the actual mass...have you seen one of those old 1930s airships, and the size of the gas cells compared to that of the actual gondola? They'd essentially stop resembling hexapods and be more balls. Swim bladders work in fish because a) water provides far more upthrust and b) they're there to stabilise the fish, not provide actual lift.
-I don't have a problem with bioelectricity, but I have a problem with it being used as a stove lighter. Against hydrogen, which burns so quickly it usually can't be controlled. I'm sure you've done that "magnesium in acid" high school science experiment--that small amount of hydrogen was enough to give an audible explosion.
So, no. The animated movie was even more hilarious, even if the theme song was nice.